Monday, July 25, 2011

Private parking

The château in our neigboring town of Saint-Aignan is privately owned and lived in. There are no tours of the castle itself, but the courtyard is open for the public to walk through. From up there you can get some nice views of the Cher Valley and the town of Saint-Aignan below.

Two cars parked against the old stables in the gravel courtyard of the Château de Saint-Aignan.

On their second day with us, we took our friends J and C to see a few more local châteaux, starting with Saint-Aignan. The weather threatened rain, but the temperature was nice enough to enjoy walking outdoors.

Because the castle is someone's home, their cars are often parked in the courtyard. These two sat in front of the old castle stables. I have no idea whose they were, of course. We did spy a woman doing some cleaning in what looked like a kitchen window above our heads. Maybe the cars belong to the help?

10 comments:

  1. Yes, Walt, those definitely look to me like "help" cars. I love the contrast.

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  2. How nice of them to let you walk through their courtyard. I usually have my guards escort tourists out of mine.
    I'm back from the beach! And despite the kids being with me, I actually had a good time. m.

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  3. I hope some day to be a guest you're taking on tour...also, I want to kill those people and take their castle for myself. It's eminent domain the conqueror in me.

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  4. I hate cleaning house. I wonder if that would change if I were cleaning my own chateau?

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  5. Maybe the cars belong to the horses.

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  6. Hey, the second car is a cute little Renault Twingo. I used to own one of these in Paris. Mine did not look as good when I parked it in front of our building, though. I guess that's because said building was not a chateau! ;-) Veronique aka French Girl in Seattle

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  7. Oh the difference in our neighborhoods... you have a lived in chateau & I have a strip club.

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  8. I am dying to know who is the resident. Do they go back to ancient history, or I've a modern celebrities or even oil baron Arabs?

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  9. My first thought when I saw this picture: this could be a car advertisement!

    Love the comments from other readers - especially the one about the car's owners being the horses!

    Mary in Oregon

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  10. mitch, you never know, though...

    mark, the beach must have been nice through all the heat I hear you're having.

    sean, it's easy... just come visit!

    carolyn, I think my castle would be filled with cobwebs. Unless I could afford a cleaning staff.

    chris, neigh...

    vero, they're popular little cars!

    stephen, we also have a disco.

    michael, it's a family that's had the place for a while, but not from the original days. They own a lot of land, apparently, here and there, and are in the forest management business.

    mary, hehehehe!

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